Israel reduces Palestinian tax transfers after attacks

The Israeli government has reduced monthly transfers of tax money collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in response to the killing of two Israelis in alleged Palestinian attacks in the West Bank this week.

“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered to cut the transfer of tax money collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in response to the deadly attacks that left two Israeli killed,” Netanyahu’s spokesperson Ofir Gendelman said in statement.

The Israeli spokesperson said that the Palestinian Authority funds “terrorists” and their families by various money-laundering methods.

“The more severe the terrorists acts, the greater the amount of funds,” he added.

Two Israelis were killed in alleged two Palestinian attacks in the West Bank earlier this week.

Israel collects tax revenues on behalf of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority under the terms of the Oslo peace accords.

The funds stand at around $180 million, making up two-thirds of overall Palestinian monthly revenues, according to official Palestinian figures.

Israel withheld Palestinian tax revenues in 2012 and 2015 in response to Palestinian moves to seek recognition of statehood.

Israel-Palestine peace talks broke down in April of 2014 due to the self-proclaimed Jewish state’s refusal to release a group of Palestinian political prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.

Since then, all attempts to revive negotiations have failed, due mainly to Israel’s refusal to reconsider its policy of unbridled settlement construction on occupied Arab land.

Palestinian negotiators, for their part, insist that Israeli settlement building must stop before a comprehensive peace agreement can be reached.